PARIS (Reuters) - Europe's Airbus has landed a record order potentially worth $20 billion at list prices from Indonesia's Lion Air, sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday, smashing rival Boeing's grip on one of the world's fastest-growing airlines. In a sign of the rising importance of Asian budget carriers for high-tech manufacturing jobs, the deal is set to be announced on Monday at a ceremony overseen by French President Franciois Hollande, the sources said, asking not...

SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Even before the loss of its Flight MH370, Malaysian Airline System (MAS) was bleeding cash, prompting talk that it may need another financial rescue from state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd, its majority shareholder. The flag carrier's cash and short-term investments at end-December were close to $1.2 billion - less than its average operating costs of the two previous quarters, and a signal that it may soon need fresh funding or bank...

Indonesia's Lion Air is close to signing a deal for 10 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner passenger jets, with a total list price of $1.9 billion, as the budget carrier aims to tap the long-haul market. Two sources involved in the deal told Reuters that Lion Air prefers the newer carbon-composite Boeing Dreamliner over the Airbus A330. The deal is expected to be signed in Jakarta on June 8 as Lion Air celebrates its 12th anniversary. Such a move by Lion Air would put more pressure on...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Boeing maintained its 20-year forecast for airplane demand at $4.8 trillion, and predicted that nearly half of the world's air traffic growth would be driven by travel to, from or within the Asia-Pacific over the next two decades. Boeing estimated airlines in the Asia Pacific region would need an additional 12,820 jets valued at $1.9 trillion over the next 20 years. It said the fleet would rise to 14,750 in 2032, from 5,090 in 2012. "Asia...

Chicago-based Boeing finalized what it calls an historic order, for 230 aircraft worth $22.4 billion, the aircraft-maker said Tuesday. Lion Air of Indonesia ordered 201 of the Boeing 737 MAXs and 29 Next-Generation 737-900ERs (extended range). The deal also includes purchase rights for an additional 150 airplanes. The order, announced in November, is the largest commercial airplane deal ever for Boeing, by both dollar value and total number of airplanes. Lion Air...

BATAM, Indonesia Jan 27 (Reuters) - Indonesian budget airline Lion Air said on Monday it planned to cancel an order for five Boeing Co 787 aircraft and replace them with smaller 737 models. The carrier said it needed widebody aircraft to accommodate more than the roughly 350 passenger capacity of the 787-8, and will place a new order for aircraft in 2015. The 737s will join a fleet that already includes a large number of that model. The widebody aircraft it intends...

* VietJet Air plans IPO, overseas routes, 3 JVs * Vietnam Airlines to boost fleet by 28 pct by 2015 * Location, tourism spur Vietnam air travel demand By Ho Binh Minh HANOI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Vietnam's fledgling airline industry is poised for a boom as local competition heats up with fleet expansions, new routes and planned share offers that are set to make it one of the world's three fastest growing markets. Even as the local economy chugs along...

BATAM, Indonesia Jan 27 (Reuters) - Indonesian budget airline Lion Air said on Monday it planned to cancel an order for five Boeing Co 787 aircraft and replace them with smaller 737 models. The carrier said it needed widebody aircraft to accommodate more than the roughly 350 passenger capacity of the 787-8, and will place a new order for aircraft in 2015. The 737s will join a fleet that already includes a large number of that model. The widebody aircraft it intends...

BATAM, Indonesia, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Lion Group, whose budget carrier Lion Air operates in one of the world's most competitive regions, will spend $250 million to build its second maintenance hub as it takes delivery of more than 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing. The hub at the Indonesian island of Batam, just 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) from neighbouring Singapore, will be completed by the end of 2016, officials told reporters...

PARIS (Reuters) - Indonesia's Lion Air may add more jets to recent plane orders in order to keep pace with Southeast Asia's transport growth as a U.S. analyst said the airline may place a multi-billion-dollar order with Europe's Airbus. Lion Air co-founder and chief executive, Rusdi Kirana, said on Tuesday that Southeast Asia's double-digit increase in air travel demand, spurred by economic growth and rising incomes, was set to continue. "We think that in the next...

PARIS (Reuters) - The pilot whose Indonesian jet slumped into the sea while trying to land in Bali has described how he felt it "dragged" down by wind while he struggled to regain control, a person familiar with the matter said. All 108 passengers and crew miraculously survived when the Boeing 737 passenger jet, operated by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air, undershot the tourist island's main airport runway and belly-flopped in water on Saturday. Officials...

PARIS (Reuters) - The pilot whose Indonesian jet slumped into the sea while trying to land in Bali has described how he felt it "dragged" down by wind while he struggled to regain control, a person familiar with the matter said. All 108 passengers and crew miraculously survived when the Boeing 737 passenger jet, operated by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air, undershot the tourist island's main airport runway and belly-flopped in water on Saturday. Officials...